Philip William Turner was born in British
Columbia in Canada on the 3rd December, 1925. He was
brought to England the following year and later received
his education at Hinckley Grammar School in
Leicestershire and at Worcester College Oxford, receiving
his B.A. degree in 1949.

During the Second World War he served in the Royal
Naval Volunteer Reserve from 1943-46 as a sub-lieutenant.
He married Margaret Diana Samson in 1950 and was ordained
a priest in the Church of England in 1951.

Amongst the parishes in which he gave service were
ones in Leeds, Crawley in Sussex and Northampton. During
the later year of 1960s he became the Head of Religious
Broadcasting for the Midland Region and then he took up
teaching at Droitwich High School with later appointments
as chaplain of Eton College and part-time teaching at
Malvern College, Worcestershire.

He won the Carnegie Prize for children's literature
for his novel "The Grange at High Force" in
1966. He is best known for his "Darnley Mills"
novels written under his own name but he also has written
under the name Stephen Chance producing four books about the Reverend Septimus Treloar.

The "Darnley Mills" Stories (See
article below.)Colonel Sheperton's Clock. OUP 1964
The Grange at High Force. OUP 1965
Sea Peril. OUP 1966
Steam on the Line. OUP 1968
War on the Darnel. OUP 1969
Devil's Nob. Hamilton, 1970
Powder Quay. Hamilton, 1971
Dunkirk Summer. Hamilton 1973
Skull Island. Dent 1977
* American Editions of the first two in the "Darnley
Mills" stories were retitled as The Mystery of the Colonel's Clock.
The Adventure at High Force.

Septimus Treloar stories written under the
pseudonym Stephen
ChanceSeptimus and the Danedyke Mystery. Bodley Head
1971
Septimus and the Minster Ghost. Bodley Head 1972
Septimus and the Stone of Offering. Bodley Head 1976
Septimus and the Spy Ring. Bodley Head 1979

Just where exactly in England is the
countryside that surrounds the fictional town of
"Darnley Mills" that is the centre of nine
stories written by Philip Turner between 1964 and 1977 ?
There are lots of clues scattered through each of the
adventures but, in the end, the locations remain as
enigmatic as they were when one reads the very first in
the series. That is one problem that confronts the reader
who starts to get drawn into the different narratives.
Later in this brief introduction to Philip Turner some
suggestions will be presented and you can make your own
judgement about which places are real and which are
figments of a very special imagination.

The second problem is one that must be
faced by all series writers - the decision that has to be
faced by every writer who opts to carry forward the same
set of characters from one tale to the next, and that is
the dilemma of how to allow the personalities he creates
to mature, and yet still retain the appeal that captured
the readers in the first place. Consider the readers who
come to the "Darnley Mills" books at the age of
10 in 1964. If they stuck with the author until 1977,
they would be young men or young women of 23 and most
would be likely to be exploring many other fields of
fiction. The ten year olds of 1974, it could be argued,
would not want stories that were set in the 1960s and
they would be too young for the issues that are explored
in the more mature books of the 1970s.

And so, unless it is tremendously
popular, most series (like Stephen Mogridge's 'New
Forest' stories, for example) fade rapidly into the
twilight zone of the second-hand bookshop and the
dedicated collector reliving his or her youth. Fashions
and lifestyles have changed so rapidly that a child in
2002 is highly unlikely ever to see a "Darnley
Mills" story for sale. Moreover, as recent trends
have shown, they are also likely to find that the early
books are not available as libraries discard the previous
decade's children's books and update their stock. Even as
this article is being written one of nine stories
"Dunkirk Summer" is completely unavailable on
the second-hand book market and "Devil's Nob"
would cost you in excess of £40. Even the recent critics
have neglected him  Victor Watson's "The
Cambridge Guide to Children's Books in English" has
no entry for "Darnley Mills" or for
"Philip Turner". Yet he is there on the list of
Carnegie Medal winners for "The Grange at High
Force", a good book but by no means his best.

Let us move from the negative to the
positive for, unlike many other authors who are very much
to be enjoyed only when we are children, Philip Turner
has qualities that can surprise, delight and move us if
we meet these books for the first time as an adult.
Without giving away too much and thus spoiling the
intimate bond that each good writer builds with his
readers, I would like to mention a little about each book
and the world of Darnley Mills. Make no mistake about it,
each story is entire and complete in itself but, once
having invested in world that he creates, the gradual
effect of the whole series builds up your rewards like
money put out at compound interest. The first thing to
make clear is that there are two cycles of stories. Five
books concern the lives of David, Peter and Arthur, boys
who grow up in the 1960s and 70s contemporary with the
first set of readers for whom Philip Turner began
writing. The remaining four books are part of a
historical cycle which begins with two stories about
Darnley Mills at the time of the Industrial Revolution,
continues with a First World War adventure and ends with
the momentous events of 1940, including Dunkirk and the
Battle of Britain. For the sake of convenience
from this point onwards I will call them "The Modern
Cycle" and "The Historical Cycle". By far
the best way to read them for the first time is to follow
the order in which they were written, swapping between
the past and the present as each story is told. Therefore
that is the way in which they will be presented here.

Colonel
Sheperton's Clock (Modern
Cycle)
Two stories dominate the first of the Darnley
Mills adventures. The first concerns David
Hughes, the ten year old whose disabled leg sets
him apart from the rest of the boys. Even Arthur
and Peter, his special friends, are aware of how
much frustration he feels when he can't be like
all the rest of them. His retreat into a world of
dreamy adventures in which he is the hero is only
partly satisfactory, for the pressures of growing
up bring out more and more strongly just what he
is missing. The mystery of Colonel Sheperton's
clock with its surprising conclusion is run in
parallel with the account of David's submission
to the surgeon's knife. This is a story about
courage and about the way in which the present is
bound up with the past. At times hilariously
funny, whilst at others disturbingly moving, this
is one of the best books in the series.

The Grange
at High Force (Modern Cycle) (Carnegie Medal
Winner)
Into the cycle of stories come more new characters whose
influence is to expand the world of Arthur, Peter and
David as each year passes by. One new link the boys forge
is to the small valley settlement of Abbey Grange and
another is to the world of ships and naval men. This
story belongs as much on the high Yorkshire moors as it
does in All Saints Church in Darnley Mills. There is
another mystery to be solved; there is fun to be had in
constructing a Roman ballista and there is danger to be
faced when the blizzard closes round them once more.

Sea Peril (Modern
Cycle)
It's intriguing to watch how the boys remain closely tied
as friends even as their different character traits mark
them out more and more as distinct and remarkable
individuals. This book gives full rein to Peter's
obsession with inventions and Arthur's passion for
cricket. Arthur also learns the emotional discomfort and
upset that can be caused by standing by his principles
and declaring openly what he knows to be the truth. A
journey upriver in their converted punt puts all three
boys on collision course with the redoubtable Lady
Bridgebolton, with the extreme forces of nature and with
the malevolence of a selfish loud-mouth. Behind it all
lurks the story of the Roman signal station and Marcus,
the saintly centurion. David's courage is put to the test
in a remarkable climax.

Steam
on the Line (Historical Cycle)
The Industrial Revolution comes to Darnley Mills
and the countryside around it. A whole way of
life must change and Philip Turner uses the story
of young Taffy Hughes and Sarah Thurgood to
reflect just what happens. The Devils' Back and
Darnley Mills Light Railway is at the centre of
the change and at the heart of the story. Life is
full of hard work, excitement, challenge and
danger. Both Sarah and Taffy find themselves more
deeply involved than they ever intended.

War on the Darnel (Modern
Cycle)
Into the hills above Darnley Mills lead both the
river and railway. The "Mad Yankee"
millionaire who wants to reopen the old line has
not foreseen the opposition of Lady Bridgebolton
whose land it crosses.

However, the old lady has not taken into
account the resourcefulness of her grand-daughter, Lady
Jane, and the firmness of her friendship with Peter,
David and Arthur. Only the little girl knows that in a
shed on the estate is a relic from the past that turns
out to have a profound significance for David. Downstream
from Darnley Mills lies the estuary and the new home of
the retired Admiral. On an island the deadly rivals of
our old friends lie in wait to play their part in the war
between schoolboys that is about to break out. None of
them can suspect that after the campaign is over the
weather will change and the real danger begin. All the
boys know that the time for youthful adventures will be
soon over and they will have to face the real world.

Devil's
Nob (Historical Cycle)
The struggle of Taffy Hughes to help his childhood
friend, Sarah Thurgood, look after her motherless family,
makes deep demands on his courage and determination.
Rewards do not necessarily come from hard work alone. The
demands of slate quarrying and the ugliness of poverty
are well conveyed. However, there is also the tenderness
and strength that comes from a relationship that will
ultimately be fulfilled.

Powder
Quay (Historical Cycle)
The hero of both "Steam on the Line"
and "Devil's Nob", Taffy Hughes, has a
smaller part to play in this story of the opening
year of the First World War. Yet, in the face of
his double personal tragedy, he forces himself on
to make his contribution to the country's
efforts. Young Midshipman Richard Bridgebolton
has an even more demanding ordeal to go through,
involving survival in an open boat with injured
men and a sketchy notion of which direction to go
in. Sustained by the thoughts of lovely Emma, he
rallies all his resources in an effort to prove
himself worthy of the family name

Dunkirk
Summer (Historical Cycle)
This is perhaps the best book of the nine. It's the story
of a community awakening to the full horrors of the war
and of young man and a young woman realising for the
first time the full possibilities of their love. For a
long time, like Andy Birch, the hero, the reader comes to
Darnley Mills as a stranger once more. Then the charm of
the familiar places, especially All Saints Church and its
rectory, and some of our old favourite characters begins
to exert itself. Twenty years later it is the world that
will be inherited by David, Peter and Arthur but only if
the community survives Hitler and his bombs. No longer a
boy, not quite a man, seventeen year old Andy faces up to
his future.

Skull
Island (Modern Cycle)
Peter and David have taken their 'A' levels. Arthur is
already at agricultural college. Their boyhood is behind
them. The world beyond Darnley Mills beckons to each of
them. Yet for one last adventure they are together again.
The old Darnley Mills is still there for them to return
to but their voyage takes them to the Shetland Isles in
pursuit of a mystery which deeply concerns Peter's aunt.
Once again the sacrifices of the past are shown to have a
profound effect on the present as, for the last time,
Philip Turner shows us how each generation is bound to
the next. The themes of lost love and reconciliation
bring both cycles of stories to a fitting end.

Somewhere in the North-East
There is a waterfall in north Yorkshire called "High
Force". Is it the same waterfall in the Darnley
Mills stories ? That would make the River Darnel of the
stories the River Tees in reality. Are there enough slow
loops and meanders in the Tees to suggest the river that
flows past Bridgebolton Manor ? Other clues that can be
followed are even more puzzling. In "Sea Peril"
we learn that High Force is eleven Roman signal stations
to York in one direction and twelve to the Roman Wall in
the other. In "Dunkirk Summer" the German
raiders have the three industrial areas to pick on 
the River Tyne and Newcastle, the River Wear and
Sunderland and finally the area around the estuary
leading up to Darnley Mills. This surely makes it the
River Tees.

So where is the town of Darnley
Mills ? Is it Stockton ? Have I picked the wrong
valley and it is really all about the Esk which flows
into the sea at Whitby ? There are suggestions of Barnard
Castle in some of the descriptions and Darlington is
mentioned as the place where Arthur Ramsgill is spending
his time at agricultural college. After all Stockton and
Darlington are appropriate places to set a story like
"Steam on the Line" which is partly about the
early days of the railway. Yet one thing we do know for
certain is that the railway descriptions in that story
are based on the Festiniog Railway in Wales.

Perhaps this transplanted Welsh railway
system is, after all, our best clue as to where the real
landscape of Darnley Mills lies  it lies in the
imagination of the author and of his readers. The places
and landscapes I have mentioned are no more than mere
hints about the "truth".#